We invite all entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs in the robotics field to join the competition for the prestigious ERF Entrepreneurship Award.

The euRobotics Entrepreneurship Award is awarded each year at the European Robotics Forum (ERF) to the most promising robotic start-up as judged by a jury of robotic entrepreneurship pioneers and experts.

Entrants to the competition gain valuable skills in how to pitch an investment idea, raising interest in their company from the robotics and investment community. The winner will additionally take home € 2,000 in price money.

The 2021 edition of the Entrepreneurship Award will take place as part of the online European Robotics Forum 2021, 13th – 15th April 2021: old.eu-robotics.net/robotics_forum.

Benefits from participation

Each qualified participant will receive:

• Feedback on their pitch and project from the screening committee
• An offer of a further three hours of counselling from European level robotic entrepreneurship experts

Three participants will be selected as finalists and pitch in the open Entrepreneurship Award workshop along with a robotic entrepreneurship role model and will receive a winner’s podium diploma and recognition in ERF social media. These three Finalists will further receive ERF attendance paid for one person.

The Entrepreneurship Award winner will additionally receive extended coverage on ERF social media and recognition in ERF public promotion materials and in a press release and an ERF Entrepreneurship Award winner diploma, and last but not least a cash price of € 2.000.

Motivation and objective

The objective of the workshop is to encourage a wider acceptance of entrepreneurship in robotics by providing entrepreneurial coaching to several teams who themselves have ideas for developing robotics products or services.

Time of workshop

The workshop will take place during ERF. The three selected finalists are required to participate in the Entrepreneurship Award workshop and pitch for the Entrepreneurship Award 2021. The session will be open to all ERF participants and will also feature a role model presentation by a successful robotic entrepreneur. However, only one person from the each of the three finalists will be subsidized to join the event.

Approach and wider schedule

The workshop is preceded by online screening and coaching sessions with up to 20 qualified entrants. These sessions are private pitching and discussion sessions at which entrants are invited to individually pitch their ideas to a panel of expert robotic entrepreneurship coaches.

These sessions will result in three entrepreneurs going forward to the ERF Entrepreneurship Award workshop – the three finalists will do a public pitch in front of a jury of robotics entrepreneurship role models and experts. This jury will then consider the presentations and declare a winner of the Entrepreneurship Award.

The private coaching sessions will involve each selected entrant pitching in a 10-minute slot followed by Q&A.

The number of entrants to the sessions will be restricted to a maximum of 20. The organizers team supported by some of the coaches will select the most promising or innovative ideas based on the application.

The screening and coaching sessions are scheduled for the 23rd, 24th and 25th of March 2021. A specific time slot of 20 minutes for each participant is assigned later.

Confidentiality

In order to address the confidentiality issues, the following guidelines will be adopted:

• The screening and coaching sessions will be closed.
• The workshop will be open to all registered attendees of the ERF.

Regardless, it is suggested that presentations be kept to information you are happy to be in the public domain.

If there is any information that you feel is essential to your presentation, but you do not want to be fully public, then this can be discussed with the coaching committee during the first sessions.

Coaching committee, jury and role models

The 20 entrants from the screening and coaching sessions will be followed by a team of expert coaches that are also open for follow-up counselling after ERF. Robotic entrepreneurship role models and experts will form the jury assessing the three finalists and could give specific input and assistance in the further development of your investment pitch and your company.

How can participants best prepare?

The participants are expected to have already developed an idea for a product or service and done some background work in researching the marketplace in which it could be exploited.

Entries can be both individuals who have not yet established a company or teams with established companies and proof-of-technology, but without sales and turnover yet.

Participating and coaching and judging parameters

Entrants will be coached and judged based on these parameters:

• Innovation
• Scalability
• Team/roadmap

Interested participants must submit an application with the following format by 23:00 CET on 16th of March 2021 to the following email address: tovp@dti.dk

The Entrepreneurship Award 2021 application email must contain:

1: Contact details (name, company/affiliation, email, phone number – you must include ALL these information’s)

2: Year of establishment of the company/initiation of the project

3: A presentation/your current pitch as attachment in .pptx or similar format

Organizers

Troels Oliver Vilms Pedersen, Danish Technological Institute, tovp@dti.dk

Jon Agirre Ibarbia, Tecnalia, jon.agirre@tecnalia.com

Deadline

Application is to be sent by 23:00 CET on 16th of March 2021 to this email address: tovp@dti.dk

Sponsorship

This event is sponsored by euRobotics aisbl and Odense Robotics.